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Reports: Pickett Felt ‘Misled’ By Steelers, Asked For Trade

By Alex Kozora

Posted on March 15, 2024 at 4:58 pm

There are more details as to why the Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly traded QB Kenny Pickett after spending the bulk of the offseason espousing public optimism about Pickett’s chances of bouncing back in 2024. As has been mentioned by other reports as to the catalyst of the trade, the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and MMQB’s Albert Breer color in the details of the last week.

According to Breer, Pickett felt “misled” by the team about being given the chance to start. Per his Friday tweet, Mike Tomlin told him Wilson would open the spring working with the starters. That’s when he asked to be dealt.

Where the disagreement happened—Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told Kenny Pickett there'd be an open competition in the spring/summer if the team signed Russell Wilson. So Pickett felt misled when he was told Wilson would get first crack with the 1s in OTAs, and asked for the trade. https://t.co/L9M50gKy9Z

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 15, 2024

In his Friday tweet, Pelissero lays out several points.

1. Pickett found out about Wilson agreeing to sign with Pittsburgh through social media, not from the team.
2. Pickett spoke with Tomlin Monday morning and was told Wilson was in “pole position” to receive first-team reps.
3. Pickett then asked for a trade.

How did this go sideways? Mike Tomlin had promised Kenny Pickett he’d get a chance to compete. Pickett learned about the Russell Wilson signing on social media Sunday night. When they spoke the next morning, Tomlin told Pickett that Wilson was in pole position and would get the… https://t.co/JJmgIyKojX

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 15, 2024

And he got his wish. Pittsburgh quickly dealt him to the Eagles for a pick swap, moving up 22 places in this year’s draft, while also receiving a pair of seventh-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now, Pickett will face the Steelers as his former team sometime during the 2024 season, which could conceivably happen Week 1 in Brazil.

The idea that Wilson was at least implied to that he’d start counters previous reporting leading up to today. Until Friday, the reporting said Wilson had been given no guarantees or promises to start, instead slated to compete with Pickett during the summer. Given Wilson’s minimum cost and Pittsburgh’s mantra of “competition,” the reporting seemed to track. There could be a semantical argument to be had, promised versus implied, guaranteed versus suggested.

And perhaps that was still the team’s plan and goal. But Pickett wanted out. And the Steelers are a “volunteers, not hostages” type of team. If a player wants out, they get out. James Harrison. Melvin Ingram. Diontae Johnson. And now Pickett.

Now, the Steelers move on. They’re in the Russell Wilson era. And they’ve closed the book on the Kenny Pickett one.